Noticing
by lalalatala
Summary: When Edwards asks Winry to a ball, Winry takes the opportunity to finally get Edward to notice her as more than friends.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey so this is my first ever fanfic so I'm pretty nervous! I hope you guys enjoy it! Please review at the end!!**

**Just by the way, something I wanted to say before I started: I know that there are lots of military ball ideas floating around, but I promise that I got this idea myself before I read any military ball fanfics! Mine will be very different and 100% original so please don't disregard this as the same idea as all the others. Sorry, but I would hate to be called a plagiarizer so I just had to put this in before you guys labeled me as the kind of person who just copied other people's ideas. Anyways, I've bored you long enough, so enjoy the story!**

**Note: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist**

**Chapter 1**

It was a peaceful, quiet day in Central Command Center. The birds chirped outside and the sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating the rooms inside. All of a sudden, the peace was shattered by a loud cry coming from one of the rooms inside the building.

"WHAT?! YOU MUST BE JOKING!!" Edward Elric jumped out of his seat and glared at Colonel Roy Mustang, who replied with a smirk.

"Unfortunately for you, Fullmetal, I'm not kidding." Mustang hid a laugh as he looked at Edward's now bright red and furious face.

"Like hell I'm gonna do that!"

"Look, the Fuhrer was insistent that _all _men had to, so its not like you're the only one. You don't have any choice in this, so suck it up."

Edward was very tempted to knock Mustang's smirk off of his smug little face, but had to settle for glaring at him and complaining. "What a stupid idea. Why would anyone even think about making people do that?"

"Are you questioning the Fuhrer's judgment, because that could get you kicked out of the military or worse." Mustang smiled wider, knowing that this was one thing Ed couldn't just complain his way out of.

Ed thought around the same lines, and saw no way of dodging this. He decided that this was one fight he would just have to give up on; it wasn't like Mustang could change the order, even if he argued, and Edward doubted that he could just barge into the Fuhrer's office and demand that he remove the order. Instead he sighed, stood up and went over to the door. "Fine. I'm leaving."

As he turned towards the door, Mustang said, "Oh, and by the way Fullmetal, good luck. You'll need it!"

Edward slammed the door in Mustang's laughing face. _Now what?_ He thought to himself.

Winry Rockbell stretched and yawned, before checking the clock. _Ten already?_ She thought to herself when she saw the time. She had pulled an all-nighter working on a rush order and had just finished, but she had thought it had only been six or seven at latest. She sighed and went to go get herself breakfast, deciding to sleep for a few hours after.

Just as she sat down to eat, the phone rang.

"Grandma, phone!" She called up to her grandmother who was still working.

"Winry, I'm busy right now, can you get it?" Pinako called back.

Winry sighed, but she dutifully got up and picked up the phone.

"Rockbell Automail" She said sleepily into the phone.

"Hey Winry." A familiar voice came through the receiver.

"Edward?" Winry asked. She was suddenly very glad she had picked up the phone.

"Yeah. Um, I need to uh ask you something." Edward stuttered.

"What is it Ed? You don't need me to go fix your automail again do you? Why is it that it always breaks you know you need to be more careful!" Winry's hand tightened around her wrench. When she got her hands on him she would hit him so hard that he would finally stop looking for danger and come back home.

"No, nothing like that!" Edward said quickly, probably knowing exactly what violent thoughts Winry was currently having. He took a deep breath and then said very fast "Um well it's just that there is this stupid military ball thing that I have to go to and well everyone has to go and has to have a date the Fuhrer says so and so will you go with me?"

Winry froze. _Is Edward finally asking me out? Does he feel-_

Just then her thoughts were interrupted by Edward adding on "as friends, of course. I don't really know any other girl I could ask so will you help me out as friends?"

Winry's happiness was suddenly replaced by sadness. "As friends". Of course. That's all that they were, and that's all that Edward would ever see her as: a friend whose heart he could just play with and mess with and then act all stupid and never realize and still just consider her as a friend, as the type of girl he would ask to a ball just because he didn't know anyone else he could ask, and not because she was the only one he wanted to ask.

"Um, Winry are you still there?" Edward called. "Yes I know its sudden and all but I need a date so please help me!"

"Yes Ed. I'll help you and go to the ball with you." Winry said, in a monotone, still lost in her own thoughts.

"Thanks, I owe you one. It's in 15 days so come to Central soon. See you later!" With that, Edward hung up the phone.

Winry stared at the phone in her hand. She didn't know whether to scream or cry, so she just sat there, motionless, staring at the phone and thinking. Eventually, crying won and so the tears ran down her face as she thought of how the person she loved would just never realize how she felt and she was doomed to just hoping that he would finally notice her someday.

"Stupid idiot!" she said and slammed the phone into its receiver. It was like he could only see her as a helpful friend and not see anything else. He had to notice her, but he just didn't.

Suddenly, Winry got an idea. This ball was the perfect chance to finally make Edward notice her. By the time it would be up, he would only see her, and he would wish that he had noticed her sooner, just like she wished it now.

Winry sat in front of the phone formulating a plan for a while before finally perfecting it. _Edward doesn't stand a chance_, she thought, and she wiped away the last of her tears and smiled. With that, she picked up the phone and dialed. She had only 15 days and a lot of work to do.

**How was it?? Please review- the only way that I can become a better writer is through reviews, so please be honest. Is it worth continuing, or should I just give up??? Is there anything you guys really want to happen in the next few chapters??? Did I make a mistake somewhere??? I really need your feedback so please review!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Thank to Wistful Daydreams, DevonMarieDarling, S J Smith, Maybe Nothing Maybe Something, and BornOnTheBreakOfDawn for reviewing!! Your reviews really made my day and motivated me to continue writing!! Thanks for all the love & suggestions- I hope I improved. Thanks also to everyone who read my first chapter and favorited it or alerted it as well!**** Here's the next chapter-this one was hard to write but I really hope you guys like it!**

**I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist**

Winry stepped out onto the crowded train platform in Central. It had been a very long train ride from Resembool, and it felt nice to be finally standing again. She looked around, trying to find Gracia, who had promised to meet her at the train station.

"Winry, over here!" called Gracia to Winry and waved at her.

Winry smiled at Gracia and Elicia and went to join them. "Thank you so much for coming to pick me up and for letting me stay at your house on such short notice."

"It's my pleasure Winry." Gracia kindly replied. "I was surprised when you called though; Edward and Alphonse aren't in any trouble now and last time you called you said you had lots of work to do."

Winry smiled sheepishly. She never really asked Pinako for her approval, but instead had left a note for on the kitchen table explaining that she had to go to Central and that it was really important. She felt bad for leaving her grandmother all alone when there was so much work to do, but she had to do this and Winry wasn't too sure Pinako would have let her go. Going and leaving her grandmother with all the work to fix Edward's automail and to help the brothers was one thing, but to go to a ball now, when it was so busy? Winry had a strong suspicion that Pinako would have just laughed and told her to get some sleep.

"Um, I think it'll be fine." Winry hedged, and then changed the subject before Gracia could ask more. "How are you, Elicia? You look bigger!"

"I missed you big sister! I'm glad you came!" Elicia said excitedly.

"I missed you too." Replied Winry, smiling. She really loved Elicia, she was such a nice and cute kid and Winry really felt like a big sister to her.

"Come on, let's go to the car before it gets too crowed." Said Gracia. As they walked over, Gracia asked, "So Winry, you never told me why you came to Central in the first place."

Winry grimaced. Gracia wasn't going to let go of this easily. She had been hoping to avoid this question, at least for a little while, but it looked like she would have to answer now. _What should I say?_ She thought. She didn't want everyone to know how she felt about Edward, and it would just be plain embarrassing if she told everyone and then her plans failed. So Winry quickly answered, "Oh, I just wanted to come and visit everyone."

Gracia looked slightly disbelieving, but didn't question Winry. "Well, I'm glad you came to see us all."

* * *

Once they arrived at the house, Winry went straight up to the room that she normally had when she came to visit Gracia and Elicia. The room was big and very nice, with a double bed, a large desk, and lots of shelves with all sorts of books. As this point though, Winry was interested most of all in using the phone. Gracia had told her on her first visit that she was free to use the phone as much as she liked, and this time Winry was really going to take her up on the offer.

She dropped her bags on the bed and sorted through one until she found an old notebook she used to write down phone numbers. She flipped through the book until she found the right page and then rushed over to the phone and dialed.

After a few rings, the phone was picked up on the other end and "Central Command Center" came through.

"Hello Riza, its Winry. I'm in Central, so do you want to meet up?"

* * *

An hour later, Winry knocked on Riza's door and waited nervously for it to open.

"Winry, how are you?" Winry looked up into Riza's smiling face. She had always found it strange how such a serious and guarded women could sometimes be so warm and friendly.

"Riza, it's nice to see you! Thanks for coming to meet me."

Riza let Winry in and sat down at a small table. "It's my pleasure, but I only have an hour before I have to go back to work."

"That's okay, we can meet up later again."

"Okay. So Winry, what brings you to Central?"

"Oh, just visiting friends." Winry said as nonchalantly as possible.

"So it doesn't have anything to do with the military ball coming up?"

"Military ball? What ball? There is a military ball?" Winry lied, her face turning red.

Riza sighed. "Let me guess: Edward asked you, right?"

Winry gave up with the lying and just decided to tell Risa the truth. After all, she would need her help to complete her plan. "Um, yeah."

"Winry, isn't that good news for you?" Riza asked, confused. Last time they had seen each other, Riza had told Winry that she had seen how Winry looked at Edward and she need how Winry felt about him.

"He asked me as friends." Just thinking about that brought tears to Winry's eyes and made her want to hit something, preferably something with long blond hair and golden eyes.

"Oh" said Riza quietly.

"Why can't he see, Riza? Why can't he notice me, notice how I feel?" Winry grabbed a napkin and tried to stop the tears from flowing without much success. "I'm right here, and I-I love him! Why can't he see that?"

"Winry, he might notice someday."

"He won't, Riza. If everything just stays the same, then he will never notice me, and I'll just remain his friend. He won't ever see me or realize how I feel unless I do something. And this ball is my chance, maybe my only chance. I have to make him notice me then, or things will never change." Winry wiped away her tears and looked at Risa with new determination.

"How can I help with that, Winry?"

"Well, I just need a small favor or two…" Winry smiled at Riza, who suddenly looked nervous.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Winry and Riza stood out front of a big store. The windows were filled with beautiful, colorful dresses, and a large sign next to them said:

Going to the Military Ball?

Be in the height of fashion!

Get your dresses custom made for you today!

Our tailors will match everything, from fit to color, to you!

Don't fade in, stand out!

Come inside today!

"Wow" said Winry, awestruck by the beautiful dresses and the promises the sign made.

"I saw it on the way back from work." Riza said. "I think it will solve your problem."

"Ya. Come on!" Winry started up the steps to enter the store.

"Um, Winry." Riza hesitated on the bottom of the steps.

"What's wrong?"

"Dresses aren't exactly my thing." Riza said.

"Please Riza, come in with me! I need your help to do this!" Winry pleaded.

"Why do you need my help? You'll do fine without me, so just go inside."

"Listen Riza, you need a dress too, don't you? Come in and we can buy ours together."

Riza turned slightly red at the mention of a dress and answered, "I already have mine. Just go inside and buy your dress yourself. I'll see you later."

With that, Riza raced off down the street before Winry could stop her. Winry stared after her in amazement. _Did she really just run away from a dress store?_ Winry thought to herself, and started chuckling at the thought. _Well, everyone's afraid of something,_ she thought before she pulled open the door and stepped into the shop.

"Welcome to Madame Larise's Dress Shop miss." A young girl about Winry's age immediately greeted her and took her coat. "Tea or coffee?"

"Um…" Winry looked at the girl in shock. _What kind of dress shop has a door maid and gives out free drinks just for entering?_ She wondered.

Another girl holding a big black book and a pen came up to her. "Do you have an appointment, Miss?" she asked.

"Um, no I don't." Winry replied. _Appointments too?_ She wondered.

The girl gave her a haughty look upon learning that she didn't have an appointment and dropped the maid act. "I'm sorry, the only way you can get a dress made for you is if you have an appointment. The door is there." With that, the girl turned around and walked away and the door maid shoved Winry's coat back in her hands with a smirk.

Winry sighed. The advertisement in the window had sounded way to good to be true, and now Winry realized that the store was probably just for super rich people who pre-booked dress fitting appointments months in advance. She turned to go, but didn't make it to the door before someone started speaking to her.

"Ah, miss, what are you doing here?" When Winry turned around, she saw a middle aged women peering at her curiously.

"Well-" Winry started but was quickly interrupted by the girl with the book.

"She came in here to get a dress, Madame, but she didn't have an appointment, so I told her we were fully booked."

"Well, I think I can make an exception for her." The middle-aged lady continued to stare at Winry.

"But Madame, she's _common_." The girl uttered the last word like it was something that disgusted her. Winry avoided telling them that she could hear them, and instead prayed that "Madame" didn't share the same aversion with "commoners" as the girl.

"I can see that Marie, but we can make an exception. Look at her! Designing a dress for her would be incredible!"

"But Madame-"

"Enough! I have spoken. Take her to the back and get her measured. I will start a design for her at once." With that, the lady turned around and walked out the room through a door.

Marie sighed and turned to Winry with a look that made Winry feel like Marie had to take out garbage, not measure her for a dress. "Follow me, miss."

Winry walked after her into a room with a table covered with neatly stacked papers and a box full of measuring tapes. Marie immediately started measuring Winry for the dress while Winry stood there awkwardly, not sure exactly what she was supposed to be doing.

After a while, Marie stood up, evidently done with her measuring. "Please give me your name and phone number miss." Winry did so and Marie wrote it down.

"We will call you as soon as your dress is ready. Goodbye." Marie looked desperate to get Winry out, but Winry had too many questions to leave.

"So, when do you think I will get my dress? And can I choose how my dress will look? How much will this cost me?" Winry blurted out three questions all at once, and then bit her tongue at the shocked look on Marie's face.

"Your dress will be ready once we call you, probably in a week. The Madame will design your dress, so you get no say in it. And as for the price, if you do not know if you can afford it, you should not have walked into the store in the first place." Marie smirked at Winry's worried face and then added, "Now miss, goodbye."

Winry walked out of the store and into the street. She put on her coat, which she was still holding from when the door maid gave it to her earlier, and then walked away towards Gracia's house. Worries filled her mind, but she couldn't help but picture herself in one of the dresses in the shop store. It was definitely not a "just friends" kind of dress, and she smiled as she thought of what Edward's reaction to the dress would be. For once, she would be noticed, and he would forget about staying "just friends". Winry grinned to herself and daydreamed about that moment as she walked. _It's going to be perfect_, she thought. She couldn't wait.

**How was this chapter?? Boring or interesting?? Please review-the reviews really help & they make me super happy!! I would super appreciate any feedback, good or bad. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**So here is chapter 3. First of all, as many of my reviewers pointed out, I spelt Riza wrong last chapter. Wow I'm sorry-I never really noticed! I fixed it now, and I promise in this chapter I will spell it correctly!! Thanks for pointing that out!! Also, thanks to Maybe Nothing Maybe Something, AnimeCookie93, Pie Alchemist, Devon Marie Darling, and Fun-Sized Kirk for reviewing. I really appreciate your reviews & comments: they help me & motivate me so thank you so much!! Thanks also to everyone who favorited, alerted, or read what I've written so far. I really appreciate it! Here is the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist**

Winry laid spread out on her bed in Gracia's house. Magazines surrounded her, all of them open to different pages about the best hairstyles, makeup, or skin creams. Since coming back from the dress shop about a week ago, Winry had been researching for the ball by reading every style or fashion magazine she could get her hands on, and she found it boring and brainless. She missed working on automail: drawing up the plans, connecting all the wires, putting arms or legs together to help people. Now, instead of doing all of that, she was stuck reading "New Style" and wondering exactly how that girl on page 12 got her hair to stay like that.

Winry sighed in frustration, shut the magazine and turned over, causing the papers under her to crackle. She closed her eyes and saw Edward. She was doing it for him, and she had to do it right. She sighed again and started turning over to continue reading the magazine when all of a sudden the phone rang.

After Winry had read enough magazines to know which salons and spas were the best in town, she had started using the phone to call all of them up. Finally, about three days and eight hours in phone use later, Gracia told Winry that she was no longer allowed to use the phone. So Winry ignored the ringing phone and started reading the magazine.

"Winry, the phone call is for you!" Gracia called up all of a sudden to Winry.

"Really?" Winry was shocked. _Who did I give the phone number to?_ She wondered, but could think of no-one but Riza who knew that she was in Gracia's house now. "I'll get it!" Winry got up and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Winry Rockbell? This is Madame Larise's Dress Shop. Your dress is ready. Please come to pick it up at three." Winry suddenly remembered about the dress shop and their promise to call her once the dress was finished in about a week. Winry had of course not forgotten about the dress, but she hadn't thought that a week had already passed by so quickly.

"Thank you! I'll be there."

"Goodbye." The line went dead.

Winry hung up the phone. She felt excited and undeniably a bit nervous. _What if the dress looks really weird? Or what if it's a dress that doesn't get me noticed at all?_ She worried. As she glanced at the clock, she noted that it was ten in the morning. She sighed once again. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Winry stood outside of the dress shop at five to three. As she had predicted, she had been nervous and excited and really jumpy the whole day, and had ended up leaving the house and just walking around simply because she couldn't sit still. Finally, though, it was time. She looked up at the store, took a deep breath, and entered.

As soon as Winry entered, the door maid gave her a look that most people give starving dirty street dogs. Winry ignored her and walked up to the other maid, whom she remembered was called Marie.

"Hello, I'm Winry Rockbell. I'm here to pick up a dress." Winry said as nicely as possible.

"Follow me." Marie walked off to another room and Winry followed behind.

"Madame, the commoner has arrived to pick up her dress." Winry sighed behind her. _What's with this "commoner" business?_ She wondered. _I'm a paying customer too, so don't I deserve some respect?_

"Excellent!" Said the lady with a smile. She looked over Marie's shoulder and saw Winry standing in the hall. "Well? Let her in and then leave us."

"Yes Madame." Marie stood aside and Winry entered the room.

"Welcome my dear. What is your name?" The lady sat down at a table and motioned for Winry to do the same.

"Winry Rockbell." Winry sat down a little awkwardly. She had been expecting to simply pick up her dress, but now she was sitting talking with this lady, whom Winry assumed was Madame Larise.

"Well Winry, I have completed your dress and it is simply magnificent." Madam Larise looked exceptionally proud of herself.

"May I see it then?" Winry asked timidly.

Madame Larise laughed and Winry felt her cheeks turn red. "You will try it on soon. I just wanted to talk to you about money first."

Winry gulped. Money was the thing she was really worried about. She had brought all of her money with her, but it wasn't really a lot and this store looked like it was extremely expensive.

"Normally, I charge this amount to my customers." Madame Larise wrote down a figure on a piece of paper and passed it to Winry, who read it and gasped. It was more expensive than her house was worth by a lot.

Madame Larise smiled again at Winry's reaction. "Because I wanted to design your dress so badly and because I know you will look amazing in it, I will offer it to you at a lower price." Again, she wrote another figure on the piece of paper and passed it to Winry, who looked at it cautiously. It was much lower, but even so Winry knew she didn't have enough money with her. She sighed. She had really wanted to have a beautiful dress, but she simply couldn't afford it.

"I'm sorry but I really cannot affo-" Winry started but was cut off by.

"Just wait until you see the dress and try it on before you make any decisions. It will look spectacular on you." Madame Larise went dreamy-eyed at the thought.

Winry didn't really want to see the dress-it would probably be beautiful and make her feel bad because she wouldn't be able to wear it to the ball-but she was sure that Madame Larise wouldn't let her leave until she tried it on, so she agreed. "Okay then, I'll try it on."

"Excellent." Madame Larise got up and opened the door. "Marie, please bring Miss Rockbell's dress for her to try on."

Marie walked through the door holding the dress. "Here it is, Madame."

"Hold it up." Madame Larise demanded.

Marie did and Winry gasped again. The dress was beautiful. It was pale pink and was skinny until the waist, where it went into many almost feather-like layers that extended to the floor. It was the most incredible thing she had ever seen, and it was definitely the kind of dress that people would notice.

"It's a beauty, isn't it?" Madame Larise asked Winry, who nodded. "Try it on."

Winry put the dress on with the help of Marie. When she saw herself in the mirror, Winry couldn't help but smile. The dress fit her perfectly and she looked incredible. It was perfect. All she wanted to do was see Edward's face when he saw her in it. Then she remembered how much the dress cost. She couldn't buy it, she just couldn't afford to pay for it. Unless…

"Can I just make a quick phone call or two?" Winry asked.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Winry exited the dress shop with a large box under her arm. She had called Gracia, Riza, and Sheska and had managed to convince each of them to lend her some money. That, along with almost all the money she had brought with her to Central, was enough to buy the dress, and now all Winry had to worry about was how to pay them each back, or how she was supposed to afford much else for the rest of her time in Central.

"Winry?" a voice shattered her thoughts. Winry looked up to see Edward looking at her as if he couldn't believe she was there. "When did you come to Central?"

Too late Winry remembered she hadn't told Edward she had arrived in Central. "Just the other day. I thought that counting I had to come to Central, I could come a little early and visit everyone." She lied, not wanting Edward to know how important this ball was for her.

"Oh. So what's in the big box?" Edward asked, pointing at the box holding Winry's new dress.

"Um just automail stuff, you know wrenches and wires and screws and stuff." Winry said quickly, glad that the part of the box that said "Madame Larise's Dress Shop" was hidden from view.

"I thought you waited to buy automail stuff until I came with you so I would pay for it." Edward replied.

Winry glared at him but didn't retort. "What are you shopping for?" She asked instead.

Edward turned red and said "Um, I need boots for the ball. I have to wear the military uniform but I need boots for it…" He trailed into silence and then they stood there awkwardly. Winry sighed internally and thought, _this is what happens if two people who are only considered friends by at least one have to go on a date-it turns awkward._

"Um thinking about the ball, I'll pick you up so where are you staying?" Edward turned even redder and was now talking to the street.

"Gracia's house."

"Okay then I'll pick you up there at five for the ball, okay?" Ed asked, still not meeting Winry's eyes.

"Sure."

"Um well then I have to go buy my boots. I'll see you later."

"Bye." Winry said, and then Edward raced down the street. She watched him until he turned the corner and sighed out loud this time. _After the ball, after he notices me, he wouldn't ever run from me or feel awkward around me,_ Winry thought hopefully. Then she turned and walked home, with even more to think about then where she had left the dress shop.

* * *

Winry sat at the desk in her room in Gracia's house. It was now the day of the ball, and Winry had woken up at five and felt too nervous to sleep. She had therefore spent the day getting ready and trying to calm herself down. She had done everything, made her hair, done her nails, put on makeup, put on her dress, jewelry, and shoes, and now she was waiting. She glaced at the clock on the desk, which told her it was five ten. He was late. She drummed her fingers on the desk and worried. _Is he just late or did he ask someone else and not tell me? Or maybe he just decided not to go?_ Winry wondered anxiously.

Just as she was panicking, the doorbell rang. Winry rushed down the stairs and opened the door.

"Sorry I'm late I just-wow." Edward looked up and his eyes widened when he saw Winry. Winry blushed at his gaze and Edward did too. "Winry, you look incredible."

"Thank you Edward. You look very nice too." Winry smiled and admired Edward, who was wearing a military uniform and brand-new boots.

"Your dress is… wow. And um… well you look great." Ed didn't look like he had gotten over the shock yet.

"Thank you." She said again.

Edward shook his head a bit and then said "Are you ready to go then?"

"Ya, let's go!" Winry walked out and locked the door behind her. She then turned and walked with Ed to the car waiting for then that would take them to the ball. _Well, he certainly noticed the dress. But will he notice me? _Winry thought, and shivered with excitement and nerves.

**What did you think?? Please review this-any feedback is really appreciated and super helpful!!! By the way, if you guys want to see the dress that inspired Winry's dress, please PM me. I tried posting it like 3 times but it didn't work so just PM me please. I do not own the dress either, but I thank whoever made it for inspiring me. Please review! The next chapter will be the ball!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Chapter 4-the ball finally! I'm super sorry that I haven't updated in a while but I've been SUPER busy.**

**Also, thanks to Pie Alchemist, Ms. Informed, Devon Marie Darling, ellamariexx, aine, AnimeCookie93, Maybe Nothing Maybe Something, OrpheumZero, and Harryswoman (wow lots this time!) for reviewing!! I super appreciate all the reviews-thanks so much!!! I love reading all the reviews-they always make me smile and they help me continue to write, so thanks!! Thanks also to everyone who favorited, alerted, or read my story so far. I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, or anything related.**

The car pulled up to the entrance of a huge dance hall with tons of light and people around it. Winry looked out of the window and felt another twinge of nerves.

Edward and her got out of the car and then he took her arm. Winry smiled at the gesture, and they walked inside like a couple.

"Well Fullmetal, it wasn't so hard, was it?" Winry looked up and saw Colonel Mustang smirking at Edward, who had turned red.

"Shut up." Edward was glaring at him now. "Where is your date anyways? Did she ditch you already?"

Colonel Mustang opened his mouth to answer when a woman with blond hair wearing a very elegant midnight blue dress came up and grabbed his arm.

"Edward, Winry, nice to see you arrived." Said the lady and Winry suddenly realized that it was Riza. _Looks like I'm not the only one who went through a makeover to get someone to notice me_ she thought and smiled. Winry had always thought there was something between Mustang and Riza, and she was pleased to see that they were together.

"Riza you look great!" Winry complimented her.

"Thank you. So do you." Riza replied.

"So Mustang, Riza?" Edward asked.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Riza asked before Mustang could answer.

"Um, nothing, it just seems…" Edward didn't finish his sentence, but they all knew that the ending would be something like "you aren't really his type".

"Um, well, Riza needed a date too and I thought I'd offer to take her so that she wouldn't have to go with a weird guy." Mustang explained quickly.

"Oh really? How nice of you." Ed said sarcastically with an evil smile.

"Uh, yah." Mustang looked worried of what Edward was plotting behind his smile. "Well, I have to go talk to some people. See you two later."

"Bye." Riza glided off with Mustang. No sooner had they left then people who Winry didn't recognize came over to talk to Edward.

Over the next hour or so, Ed and Winry walked around, greeting tons of people. Winry didn't know most of them and mostly just stood there awkwardly while Ed and the other people talked. _I never knew Ed knew so many people in the military._ She thought, amazed of the amount of people and how they all treated Edward with tons of respect.

Finally, Winry spotted someone she did know through the crowd.

"Major Armstrong!" she called out to him. Edward turned around with a scared look on his face, but it was too late. Major Armstrong had already seen them and was rushing over to talk to them.

"Edward, Winry how nice to see you two. It is always so exquisite to be in the presence of young love!" The Major started going teary-eyed at the thought.

Edward looked uncomfortable and tried to interrupt the Major's speech. "Um Major, we're not-"

Major Armstrong ignored him and continued on. "It is just to wonderful and beautiful for words to describe it! You two must dance together!"

"Dance?" Edward looked nervous now.

"Yes! It is a perfect way to express love! Oh look, a new song is starting now, so dance as homage to your beautiful love!" With that, Armstrong pushed Ed and Winry onto the dance floor.

Edward looked around quickly, probably trying to find an escape, but luckily for Winry people were all around the dance floor and looking at them, so Ed couldn't leave without just about everyone seeing.

Winry sighed internally. "Look Edward, we're going to have to dance anyways." She told him, trying not to sound to excited at the prospect of dancing with him.

"Ya, I guess you're right." Edward turned red and awkwardly put his arm around Winry. She took his other arm, feeling her heartbeat speed up at his touch.

The music started and they started to dance. Winry was pleasantly surprised to find that Edward was a very good dancer.

"Enjoying yourself?" Ed suddenly asked in a whisper.

"Um, yah." Winry answered, surprised by the sudden question.

"Really? I would have thought you would be bored by now." Ed gave her a grin that made her heart stutter.

"Nope, not yet." She replied, looking down.

"Good. I don't want my date to be bored." She looked up again, shocked and pleased that Ed would use the word "date" to refer to her. Her excitement quickly faded though when she saw in Ed's face that he was just teasing her. _Of course. _She frowned.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"Nothing." Winry answered quickly, and then changed the subject. "You're a really good dancer! Where did you learn to dance?"

"Nowhere really." Edward turned redder.

"What?" Winry asked, curious about what triggered the blush.

"Well, don't you remember? We used to dance together when we were younger."

"Oh yah, I remember now." Winry smiled as she thought back to those times before everything changed. She remembered her mother teaching her, Ed, and Al how to dance one rainy afternoon, and dancing together with Edward in her house while her dad played the piano. _If only that never changed._ She thought sadly.

The music ended, and Edward led her off the dance floor. "Hey, do you want to go outside before someone else makes us dance? They have some drinks there I think." Edward asked her.

"Sure, let's go!" Winry followed Ed as he weaved his way through the people, calling out some greetings as he went. Eventually they reached some open French doors and went through them out into the warm night onto a balcony. They There was a big table surrounded by people, which Winry assumed had the drinks. As they made their way towards the table, Winry suddenly spotted Armstrong in the crowd.

"Oh crap!" She heard Edward say next to her. "Armstrong. Let's make a run for it!" He grabbed her hand and raced off, down some stairs that led to the garden.

_Does he really not want to dance with me so much?_ Wondered Winry as she ran beside him. _What is so bad about me?_

Finally, Ed stopped at a bench set into a hedge. "I think we lost him!" he said, and when he turned to Winry, he looked so happy that Winry couldn't help but smile at him, though she felt hurt inside.

They both sat down on the bench, and they sat in silence for a while, admiring the garden or, in Winry's case, enjoying the company she was in.

"Hey, sorry about that." Edward suddenly said.

"What?" asked Winry.

"Well, running from Armstrong. It's not that I think he'll make me dance with you again, it's just that his stories bore me to tears." Ed grinned.

Winry beamed. _He doesn't not want to dance with me!_ She thought, and she felt so unbelievably happy.

"And also, I'm sorry about making you go through with all this. You know, everyone thinking we're a couple and stuff." He continued.

Winry felt her good mood shatter in an instant. "No problem." She said quietly.

"I mean, no-one understands that we're just good friends and that I just really needed to take someone."

Winry felt his words slam into her as if he had punched her. _Just friends_ she thought, _just friends is how he will always see me. He will never notice me, no matter what I look like._ Winry felt angry, felt anger boiling up inside of her at him, at the fact that he could never notice her.

"There must be some-one else in our situation, but no-one can ever understand that we are just friends."

Winry could feel her anger growing, and she just wanted to scream and shout and rage at him. _Shut up Edward!_ She thought. _Shut up, shut up, shut up!_

"I mean really, other people took their friends to the ball, but everyone thinks that we are a couple, no matter how many times I tell them that we are just frie-"

"Edward, SHUT UP!" Winry was shocked to see that she was speaking out loud, not in her thoughts, but once she started, she just couldn't stop. "You're an idiot! How can you not notice? You just keep going on with 'just friends' and 'I just needed to take someone', without even noticing me. Look at me, I'm here, I'm right in front of you, and you just can't notice! I spent more money on this stupid dress then what I'll spend in like a year and now I'm in debt just to make you notice, but no, you just don't notice! You never will notice and you're just an idiot and I can't believe it, I just can't believe that you don't notice me ever. And I love you, but you're just too busy to ever notice so you just never see me as more then just a stupid friend and you just break my heart and you still don't notice. I'm an idiot too, because I actually though that you would notice me and you never will and you just see us as friends and you won't ever notice me, ever. How can you not notice me? I'm right here, notice me. LOOK MY WAY AND NOTICE ME FOR ONCE!"

Winry stopped and looked at Edward, who stared back at her shocked. All of a sudden, Winry realized what she had just said, how she had just said everything in her mind, how it had all just come out and that Edward knew.

"Winry, I…" He started to say something, but stopped.

Winry felt tears start running down her cheeks as he stared at her. "I don't want to hear it Edward. I just really don't want to hear anything you have to say. Whatever it is, it will just hurt me more." With that, Winry turned and ran from him, her tears smudging her makeup that she had worked so hard to put on.

She ran up the steps to the balcony and into the ballroom. People stared at her, but Winry didn't care. She just wanted to get out of the stupid place now. A few people called her name, but she just ran by, not even noticing who was calling to her. She dodged past people and eventually made it to the door. The valet standing at the door stared at her just like everyone else, but she ran passed him too and she went out through into the night. Winry didn't stop running for a long time, not until she had run all the way to Gracia's house, and she was back alone in her room.

**Gasp!! Well, the ball was a disaster for Winry but what will happen next?**

**Please review!! I really want to know if you guys liked this chapter! It was hard to write so I would super appreciate any comments you have for this chapter!! So if you want me to continue writing this, then please review!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone!! Thanks sooooooo much to S J Smith (double!), MC, Fun-Sized Kirk, AnimeCookie93, dbzgtfan2004, Devon Marie Darling, Ms. Informed, downfromhell (double!), SukiFujisaki, J. U. T. H. L, and whatsername4 for reviewing! Reviews make me feel really happy and totally put me in a good mood for the whole day (on a Monday too, who knew that was even possible!), so thank you-I super appreciate it!! Thanks also to everyone who favorited, alerted, or read my story. It all really encourages me to continue so thank you! This next chapter is for all you guys, so I hope you like it!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist**

**Chapter 5**

Winry sighed. She was lying on her bed, though sleeping was impossible. She hadn't slept much more than a few hours since she had come back from the ball only a day ago, though for Winry it felt like a lot more. It felt like she had been trapped in her room forever, feeling hurt and angry and sad.

_Trust Ed to do this to me,_ She thought angrily. She grabbed the thing closest to her (in this case, a book) and threw it across the room. "Stupid idiot!" She grumbled and watched the book as it soared through the air, hit the wall and landed on top of Winry's suitcase, which she had packed and repacked time and time again to be ready to leave on the early morning train. _Only a few more hours,_ She told herself, and _then I can finally leave here and go back home._

"Winry, how are you doing?" a voice came through Winry's door.

"I'm… here." Winry switched from saying "I'm fine" halfway through her answer. It just seemed like such a lie right now.

"I'm leaving some more food outside the door, okay? You should really eat something." Gracia sounded worried, and Winry felt bad that she was causing her to worry and knew that she wasn't being a good guest, but she didn't feel good enough to unlock the door and lie and act like she was okay, and she didn't want to tell anyone else about what happened and how she felt because it honestly was so pathetic. If it had been someone else, Winry was sure she would have laughed and said, "It's not like it's the end of the world or anything. She didn't even really get rejected, and she should just get over it already and move on." But moving on seemed impossible right now for her, so she was back to lying on her bed and trying to avoid interacting with other people.

"I'm not hungry." Winry lied, hoping Gracia would just go away.

"Look Winry, I know you're sad, but you have to eat something. It isn't healthy to act like this and to stop eating. Come out and have something to eat, and maybe we can talk about what happened."

Winry sighed. She had of course not told Gracia what had happened, though not for the lack of questions, which had annoyed her to no end. _Well, who wouldn't ask questions if your houseguest ran into the kitchen crying?_ Winry asked herself, trying to be reasonable and to stop herself from lashing out at Gracia. _ Gracia probably already knows anyways._ Winry thought. _When Riza, Sheska, and… he came to try to see me, they probably told her exactly what happened._ Winry felt anger boiling up at her as she pictured the idiot telling Gracia, "One second she was fine, and then the next she went crazy and screamed at me and then ran off. I have no idea what came over her. It was really weird."

These musings made Winry's next lie come out sharper then she intended. "I'm not hungry and I'm trying to sleep. We have to leave early so I want to sleep a little more."

Gracia probably heard the anger in Winry's voice and decided to retreat. "Okay then. If you want to talk, just knock on my door and we can talk." Winry heard Gracia's footsteps as she walked away, and then Winry was alone again.

Winry sighed and rolled over so that she was staring at the ceiling. Her anger at Gracia and Ed faded, and she fell to thinking, glad of a break between the sadness and the anger that had ruled her life for the past twenty-four hours. _Should I talk to Edward again?_ She wondered. In her more angry phases, she had wanted to see him to put a wrench-sized dent in his head, but Winry knew that wouldn't solve anything, and that if she saw him, she probably start crying again. _Better just to have a clean break._ She thought. Once she got to Risembool, she could start trying to deal with Edward never loving her back. She sighed again as she contemplated the bleak, Edward-less future. _Life sucks,_ she thought, and she could just feel the sadness coming as tears start to pile up again. She had cried so much lately she would have thought that she had run out of tears, but she still had more to cry whenever she thought of him.

Suddenly, a loud noise outside made her sit up. It sounded like rocks or something hitting together. After a few seconds of silence though, Winry managed to convince herself that it was nothing. She lay down again, but as soon as she did, she heard it again, and then again.

_What is going on?_ She wondered and went over to the window and opened it up to try to see what was making the noise.

Winry thought she was dreaming when she looked out of the window and saw Edward standing underneath it, smiling and waving at her with one hand while holding rocks in the other. She quickly closed her eyes, thinking to herself _I'm just dreaming, it's just a weird sort of dream._ When she reopened her eyes though, Edward was still down there.

Winry stared at him, shocked. Once she got a hand on herself, she decided to tell him to get the hell away from her, but as she opened her mouth to shout just that, she suddenly remembered that it was the middle of the night, and that her shouting at him would probably wake everyone in the neighborhood up. So instead of shouting, Winry frantically waved her hands at Edward, hoping he got the message and left.

Of course, Ed completely ignored Winry and climbed straight up the wall faster then Winry would have thought possible.

"Hey," he said, still smiling.

"Ed, go away now." Winry glared at him, angry that he would even dare to come see her, even though she had refused to see him earlier that day.

"Well, I just wanted to talk to you about…" his voice trailed off.

"I already told you I didn't want to hear anything you have to say." Winry continued to glare at him, hoping he would just climb down the wall and go away.

"Look, I'm sorry Winry I just-"

"Edward, shut up and go away now or my wrench will hit your head so hard you won't wake up for a week."

"Winry, I'm trying to tell you something important, so will you please just stop threatening me for two seconds? Edward looked pretty angry now too, but Winry was too mad now to care.

"I don't want to listen to anything you have to say right now."

"Well, we need to talk about what happened yesterday, and we need to talk about it now." At his words, Winry could feel her anger leaving her, replaced with fear, a fear that he would reject her once and for all. Winry had thought that she had no more hope of Edward feeling the way she felt back, but as her eyes started to fill with tears, she could see that she was wrong, and that she had always had a small hope that he did somehow love her in spite of everything he had said to her.

"Edward please, don't say anything else. Please just go away now." Winry begged him.

Edward looked taken aback by her sudden mood change, but he continued anyways. "It's important, and you need to hear it."

Winry turned away, hiding the tears that were now running down her face in anticipation of what he was going to say. She could already hear him breaking her heart.

"I… I can't love you." Winry turned back to face Ed, shocked. He was looking down towards the ground, as if he was ashamed. "Al. It's my fault that he's stuck in a hollow metal shell, and I need to find a way to get his body back. I promised him Winry. And so I can't love you. I can't make a commitment to you because I need to fix my mistakes first and I can't do that and be with you at the same time." At his last words, he looked up at her, and his face was full of sadness and pain.

Winry silently reached out and offered him a hand. He grabbed it and climbed through the window. They stood there for a moment, looking at each other.

Winry broke the silence first and asked the first question that came to her mind. "Why did you come?"

"You needed to know. It's not that I don't love you, it's just that I can't."

_Did he really just say that he loves me?_ Winry wondered, and felt happy even though he was telling her that he couldn't love her. "So you love me?"

"I guess I do," Edward answered slowly, "and I guess I have for a while, but I can't do anything about it. I'm sorry, but I promised, and it's my fault, and I need to fix what I did. Al's the only family I have, and it's my fault that he doesn't have a body."

They stood there, and the silence enveloped them as they thought. Finally, Winry spoke again. "Edward, I love you, and I understand that you need to get Al's body back, but you don't have to be with me all the time to love me. If we just try, we can make this work."

Ed looked surprised. "You would really be okay to love me even though all you would be able to do is wait for me and almost never see me?"

Winry smiled at his question. "As long as I know you love me, I'll wait and just enjoy the few moments I have with you until you do get Al's body back. I love you, so anything I can get is fine."

Edward smiled at Winry's answer. He nodded, and Winry knew that she had just won his love. She grinned back at him, and then atmosphere in the room changed from sad and hurt to relaxed and unbelievably happy. She sat down on her bed, and Ed did too. Neither talked for a while, but it was comfortable silence, or, at least on Winry's part, an amazed silence that Edward actually loved her. They simply looked at each other and intertwined their hands, basking in each other's silent love.

Suddenly, there was a knock at Winry's door. "Winry, it's time to get up if you want to catch the six ten train." Gracia called through the door.

Winry jumped up off the bed. "Okay, I'm getting ready." She called back.

Gracia walked off, and once she was out of earshot, Winry turned to Ed. "Should I leave, or are you staying in Central for a while?" She quietly asked him.

"Actually, Al and I are leaving in a few hours." Ed answered.

"Can I come with you?" Winry asked hopefully.

"No."

Winry sighed at his answer. "Why not?"

"I don't want you to get hurt. What would I do then?" Edward asked seriously, then grinned and continued, "Who would fix my automail?"

"Very funny." Winry's sarcasm was ruined by the fact she couldn't stop herself from smiling. "Fine, I'll go back to Risembool. Come visit me soon."

"I can't make any promises, but I'll try." Edward got up and turned to the window. He walked halfway there before suddenly turning around, walking back over to where Winry was sitting, and kissing her.

Winry kissed Ed back, amazed. The kiss was… perfect, there was no other way to describe it. If there had ever been a doubt in her mind that Ed loved her, there wasn't now as she kissed him and felt his love running through her.

Ed broke the kiss and stepped back, blushing a bit but looking happy. "In case I don't come back." He said to her, and then he turned to go again.

This time, Winry grabbed onto his hand, holding him back. "I love you. Come back safe, and don't forget me."

Edward smiled. "How could I forget you? I'm sorry I have to go but…"

"I understand." And Winry did. She knew that Ed had promised Al that he would get his body back, and that came first before anything else for him. Even love.

"Bye. I'll be visiting you with a destroyed arm before you know it!" With that, Ed climbed out of the window and down the wall.

Winry raced over to the window and watched Ed as he left. Once she could no longer see him, she went over and lay back down on her bed. _Edward really loves me. He actually loves me._ It almost seemed unbelievable, but she still felt the kiss, so full of love, on her lips and she knew it was true. _I guess he had always noticed me, and our love really was always there._ She thought with a slight smile before she got up to go back home and wait for him to return to her once more.

Wow, that's the main story done! So, what do you guys think? Did you like it? PLEASE review so I can have your feedback! Reviews make me happy :D!! Also, if I can figure out how to do it, when I put this chapter up, I'm gonna put up a poll about whether or not to write parts of Ed's POV in another bonus chapter. PLEASE vote so that I now what you guys want that or not. (This is why I'm not putting this as "complete" yet, even though the main story is over). Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the overall story!! Thanks for reading it!


	6. Bonus Chapter

**Hey people!! Due to popular demand (I've always wanted to say that!!) I'm publishing the bonus chapter in Edward's point of view!! YAY!!**

**Okay, I'm SUPER sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I've had a really busy week. But here is the new chapter, finally!!**

**Oh and about what I'm gonna do next, well let me explain. When I wrote chapter 5 in my mind, it was different then what it came out to be, so it made sense then to end it after chapter 5. But I changed it when I was writing it, so it ended differently and not as completely. After reading your reviews & re-reading chapter 5, I decided to put in an epilogue to round out and complete the story. So stay tuned for that!**

**Next: thanks to Fun-Sized Kirk, whatsername4, Devon Marie Darling, BornOnTheBreakOfDawn, AnimeCookie93, Brigette Janine, Maybe Nothing Maybe Something, pi-or-pie (3 times!), and tsubasanfan101 (4 times!) for reviewing!! Thanks sooooooo much for reading all of this & reviewing it: reviews help tons & if not for them, I would have stopped writing ages ago! So thanks!! Also, thanks for everyone who favorited, alerted, or read my story so far!!**

**Lastly (wow this has been a long author's note, sorry bout that) AnimeCookie93 had a really great idea of me writing a post-Conqueror of Shamballa sequel to this. (thanks for your idea, I love it!) I always have wanted to do something like that (I cried when I first saw the movie because they were still apart at the end) so what do you guys think? Should I do that or not? I'll post another poll (hopefully), but you can also tell me via a review/pm.**

**Ok, done with that! Enjoy Ed's POV!!**

Edward sighed as he dialed Winry's phone number. He couldn't believe that he had to do this, but what other choice did he have? He would have to just make sure that they stayed as friends, not as anything else.

The phone rang a few times before it was picked up and "Rockbell Automail" came through the receiver.

"Hey Winry."

"Edward?" Winry asked. She sounded tired but happy.

"Yeah. Um, I need to uh ask you something." _Better just get this over with, _he thought.

"What is it Ed? You don't need me to go fix your automail again do you? Why is it that it always breaks you know you need to be more careful!" Ed cringed at Winry's treats, and was glad for once that he wasn't calling her about broken automail.

"No, nothing like that!" He answered quickly before asking Winry as fast as possible, "Um well it's just that there is this stupid military ball thing that I have to go to and well everyone has to go and has to have a date the Fuhrer says so and so will you go with me?"

After he said that there was silence. Ed ran over what he had just said in his mind and suddenly noticed that it sounded too much like he was asking her on a date. He quickly added on "as friends, of course. I don't really know any other girl I could ask so will you help me out as friends?"

Once again, there was silence. Ed waited for a bit, but then he heard a door opening and knew that his brother was back from shopping. Ed could just hear what Al would say if he knew that he had just asked Winry to the ball, and he wouldn't be able to bear it. He already loved her, and hearing Al talk about it like it was actually possible would be more then he could bear. Quickly, he said, "Um, Winry are you still there? Yes I know its sudden and all but I need a date so please help me!"

"Yes Ed. I'll help you and go to the ball with you." Winry replied weirdly in a monotone sort of voice. Normally, Edward would have asked what was wrong, but he could hear his brother making his way towards him.

"Thanks, I owe you one. It's in 15 days so come to Central soon. See you later!" Ed hung up the phone just as Al came in.

"Hello brother. Were you just talking to someone?" Al asked Ed, who quickly put on his best innocent face.

"No, no-one." Al didn't look entirely convinced, so Ed quickly changed the subject before Al could ask more questions.

"What did you buy?"

* * *

Ed sighed as he walked down the street. Earlier today, when he had reported to Mustang, he had been given his uniform and had been told that he had to buy his own boots for the ball. _Why do I have to buy boots anyways?_ He thought angrily. _Shouldn't they come with the uniform?_ _And why do I have to wear my uniform to the ball? Why do I even have to go to the ball?_ Ed sighed again. All that this ball would do is remind him of what he couldn't have.

Just as Ed thought that, the person that he couldn't have appeared right in front of him. Winry looked very preoccupied and was holding a huge box under her arms. _Wait a second,_ Ed suddenly thought, _what is she doing here?_

"Winry?" He called out to her. She looked up at him and smiled, looking very surprised. "When did you come to Central?"

"Just the other day." Winry answered quickly. "I thought that counting I had to come to Central, I could come a little early and visit everyone."

"Oh. So what's in the big box?" Edward asked curiously, pointing at the box Winry was carrying.

"Um just automail stuff, you know wrenches and wires and screws and stuff." Winry looked away from him as she anwered. _Is she lying?_ He wondered. _Why would she lie about a box?_

Instead of asking her though, Ed decided it would be best to just accept her story for now. "I thought you waited to buy automail stuff until I came with you so I would pay for it." He replied instead, earning a glare from Winry.

"What are you shopping for?" She asked him.

Edward felt himself turning red. _Why does she have to bring up the ball?_ He wondered. "Um, I need boots for the ball. I have to wear the military uniform but I need boots for it…" Ed and her stood there awkwardly, reminded about the ball, or, in Ed's case, the torture he'd have to endure that would remind him of how things would have been had he not tried to bring his mother back. If not for that, he would probably be dating Winry in Risembool, and they would be happy together, but instead he had to fix his mistakes and travel around, trying to get Al's body back. Plus, he felt embarrassed just talking about their… date.

_Better just ask her now_, he thought before, feeling himself turn red, he asked her, "Um thinking about the ball, I'll pick you up so where are you staying?"

"Gracia's house." Winry answered.

"Okay then I'll pick you up there at five for the ball, okay?" Ed asked, carefully studying the ground as he tried to avoid Winry's eyes.

"Sure."

"Um well then I have to go buy my boots. I'll see you later."

"Bye." Winry said, and then Edward raced down the street. As soon as he was sure Winry couldn't see him, he stopped and leaned against the wall. All sorts of emotions swirled around in him, from embarrassment about the ball to sadness that he couldn't be with Winry to happiness that he had seen her. He stood there for ages, thinking, until he remembered his task on hand and hurried off to buy some boots for the ball, feeling, overall, confused.

* * *

Ed checked his watch as he ran up to Winry's door. 5:15.

"Dammit," he uttered under his breath. _How can I be so late?_ He wondered. Ed had spent the whole day pacing around nervously, watching the time drag by and counting down the time until the ball, and now he was late thanks to the stupid slow car driver.

Ed rang the doorbell and stood there nervously. He straightened his shirt, and wondered, _does Winry think I just forgot about her?_

At that moment, the door opened. Ed started to apologize for being so late, but when he looked up, he completely lost his train of thought, and all he could say was "wow". _Winry looks so beautiful and perfect_, Ed thought, and before he knew what he was doing, her told her, "Winry, you look incredible."

"Thank you Edward. You look very nice too." Winry replied, blushing but looking very happy. Ed was still too shocked by how amazing Winry looked to be surprised by her happiness.

"Your dress is… wow. And um… well you look great." He continued, still not able to comment on anything else but her appearance.

"Thank you."

Edward shook his head, trying to clear it. It helped a bit, and Ed remembered why exactly he was there. "Are you ready to go then?" He asked Winry.

"Ya, let's go!" Winry replied. Ed watched her as she locked the door, and then they walked to the car. _What if I let my feelings get the best of me, and I confess my love to Winry?_ Ed wondered nervously. _No, I can't let that happen. I can't tell her that I love her but that I can never do anything about it. It would be completely pointless. I just need to keep my mouth shut._

* * *

A few minutes later, the car pulled up to the entrance of the dance hall. Ed quickly got out of the car, opened Winry's door for her, and offered her his arm. Winry smiled at Ed, which made his heart leap. _Stop it._ He commanded himself as they walked into the ballroom. _Get a grip on yourself. You can't let this show._

All of a sudden, Ed heard a voice saying, "Well Fullmetal, it wasn't so hard, was it?" and saw Mustang smirking at him.

Ed turned red and glared at Mustang. "Shut up. Where is your date anyways? Did she ditch you already?"

Mustang was about to answer when a pretty, elegant woman came up and grabbed his arm.

"Edward, Winry, nice to see you arrived." _Wait, is that Lieutenant Hawkeye?_ Ed thought, amazed when he recognized her voice. _Did she and Winry have some sort of pact to changing how they looked for this ball?_

"So Mustang, Riza?" Edward asked, mostly to annoy Mustang, but also because he was curious that Mustang would choose her over any of his billion other girlfriends who probably wouldn't try to shoot him.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Riza asked quickly. She didn't look overtly mad, but Ed knew she was the type to take guns with her to formal balls, so he answered quickly.

"Um, nothing, it just seems…" Edward was about to say, "you aren't really his type", but stopped himself just in time. He knew Riza wouldn't take that lightly.

"Um, well, Riza needed a date too and I thought I'd offer to take her so that she wouldn't have to go with a weird guy." Mustang explained, but Ed quickly saw through the lie.

"Oh really? How nice of you." Ed said sarcastically. _This is gonna be fun!_ He thought, trying to decide the best way he could use the fact that Mustang felt something for Riza to embarrass him.

"Uh, yah." Mustang looked worried, which made Ed smile. "Well, I have to go talk to some people. See you two later."

"Bye." Riza left, and as soon as they were gone, some lieutenants Ed had met a while ago came over to greet him.

Over the next hour or so, Edward and Winry walked around the crowd, talking to lots of people. Ed was worried that Winry, who knew few of the people he talked to, was bored, but whenever he glanced at her, she didn't look bored, more happy and curious than anything else, but of what Edward had no idea.

All of a sudden, Edward saw one person he hoped to avoid during this ball. Ed turned around and was about to walk away when all of a sudden, Winry called out, "Major Armstrong!" Ed looked at Winry, trying to convey to her _what have you done?_ She looked a bit guilty, but Major Armstrong had already seen them and was coming over.

"Edward, Winry how nice to see you two." The Major said, his eyes lighting up. "It is always so exquisite to be in the presence of young love!"

"Um Major, we're not-" Ed started to say, knowing that he couldn't deal with Major Armstrong describing their "love". _Not love,_ Ed thought sadly,_ just a one sided impossibility._

Major Armstrong ignored him and continued on. "It is just to wonderful and beautiful for words to describe it! You two must dance together!"

"Dance?" _Trust Major Armstrong to make us do exactly what I was hoping to avoid._ Ed thought.

"Yes! It is a perfect way to express love! Oh look, a new song is starting now, so dance as homage to your beautiful love!" Armstrong pushed Edward and Winry onto the dance floor before Ed could protest any further.

Edward quickly looked around, trying to see a gap in the people surrounding the dance floor.

"Look Edward, we're going to have to dance anyways." Winry told him.

"Ya, I guess you're right." Edward surrendered and put his arm around her, trying not to think about how good and natural it felt.

The music started and they started to dance. As they did so, Ed started wondered if Winry was having fun, or if she was bored or angry with him for acting weirdly. _Well, I can ask her here. It's the only time we'll have to ourselves anyways tonight._

So Ed summoned up courage and then asked Winry, "Enjoying yourself?"

"Um, yah." She answered.

"Really? I would have thought you would be bored by now." Ed smiled at Winry. It felt nice to be talking to her without any awkwardness. _Who would have thought that it would be like this while we were dancing? _He mused.

"Nope, not yet."

"Good. I don't want my date to be bored." He said teasingly, but Winry looked up surprised, and then frowned.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." Winry answered quickly. "You're a really good dancer! Where did you learn to dance?"

"Nowhere really." Edward felt his face turn red at the mention of dancing. _Can she really not remember?_ He wondered.

"What?" Winry asked him.

"Well, don't you remember? We used to dance together when we were younger."

"Oh yah, I remember now." Winry smiled and Ed did too, remembering those times they would dance together, before everything changed. Before they became impossibility.

The music ended, and Ed and Winry walked off the dance floor. "Hey, do you want to go outside before someone else makes us dance? They have some drinks there I think." Edward asked her, trying to sound causal, but really just hoping he wouldn't have to dance with Winry again. It had been nice to talk to her, but the memories and the feelings were hard to deal with.

"Sure, let's go!" Ed and Winry weaved their way through the crowd out onto the balcony. A large crowd was out there, and a familiar face in it made Ed stop dead in his tracks.

"Oh crap!" Ed cursed before he turned to Winry and said, "Armstrong. Let's make a run for it!" Ed grabbed Winry's hand and raced off into the garden, towing Winry along.

After a while, Ed judged it save to stop. "I think we lost him!" he told Winry, feeling very glad that he had avoided long speeches and another dance with Winry.

Edward sat down on a bench, and Winry did too. It felt nice to sit next to Winry, but Ed was determined not to let himself think about that. _I wonder why she hasn't said anything._ He thought instead. _Is she offended because I ran away from Armstrong? Does she think that I don't want to dance with her? Well, I don't, but I don't want to hurt Winry either, so I better say something fast,_ Ed decided.

"Hey, sorry about that."

"What?" asked Winry.

"Well, running from Armstrong. It's not that I think he'll make me dance with you again, it's just that his stories bore me to tears." Ed smiled at Winry, hoping that she bought his story. Her answering grin told him that she did.

Winry's smile made Edward feel happy. _Just seeing her like this makes my day. I love her so much._ He thought before he could stop himself._ NO! I can't do anything about it. We're just friends. We'll only be friends. _Ed thought. _Just friends._

With that in mind, Edward continued. "And also, I'm sorry about making you go through with all this. You know, everyone thinking we're a couple and stuff."

"No problem."

"I mean, no-one understands that we're just good friends and that I just really needed to take someone." _Just friends. We can be nothing more. No matter what I want, that's all we can be._ Edward thought, and he continued, "There must be some-one else in our situation, but no-one can ever understand that we are just friends. I mean really, other people took their friends to the ball, but everyone thinks that we are a couple, no matter how many times I tell them that we are just frie-"

"Edward, SHUT UP!" Winry suddenly shouted at him. Edward looked up, shocked at Winry, who looked angry and hurt. "You're an idiot! How can you not notice? You just keep going on with 'just friends' and 'I just needed to take someone', without even noticing me. Look at me, I'm here, I'm right in front of you, and you just can't notice! I spent more money on this stupid dress then what I'll spend in like a year and now I'm in debt just to make you notice, but no, you just don't notice! You never will notice and you're just an idiot and I can't believe it, I just can't believe that you don't notice me ever. And I love you, but you're just too busy to ever notice so you just never see me as more then just a stupid friend and you just break my heart and you still don't notice. I'm an idiot too, because I actually though that you would notice me and you never will and you just see us as friends and you won't ever notice me, ever. How can you not notice me? I'm right here, notice me. LOOK MY WAY AND NOTICE ME FOR ONCE!"

Winry ended her rant, and stood there staring at Edward. _She loves me, _was Edward's first thought. _Winry loves me. She actually loves me._ Without thinking beyond that, Edward started to say, "Winry, I love you too" but stopped himself halfway. _And then say what?_ He wondered. _But I can't love you, sorry._ He couldn't say that. She wouldn't understand, and it would just hurt her more.

Winry began to cry as Edward looked on. He felt completely helpless and terrible. He wanted to help, to make her tears stop, but what could he do to make her feel better? _Nothing. _He thought. _I can do nothing._

Winry suddenly said, "I don't want to hear it Edward. I just really don't want to hear anything you have to say. Whatever it is, it will just hurt me more."

With that, Winry turned and ran from him. She raced up the garden path and round the corner and out of sight. Then Edward was left alone, feeling cold and terrible.

* * *

Edward paced outside Gracia's house, trying to decide what to do. _Should I try to talk with Winry and explain, or just leave it and never talk about what happened again, _Ed wondered. He knew that just leaving Winry to think that he didn't love her was the best idea, but every time he thought of doing that, he saw Winry's face yesterday, hurt that he "didn't notice her". _As if I don't notice her_, Ed thought. _I always notice her. I notice her too much, that's the problem. _But if Ed told her the truth, that he loved her but that he couldn't love her, she'd be hurt more. _But I love her, and she deserves to know the truth._ One part of him argued. _But shouldn't you protect her from pain?_ Another side of him said. Ed's mind went round in circles as he tried to decide what would be best to do.

Without even noticing it, Edward walked around Gracia's house until he was in the back. He could see one room had a light on, and he had a feeling he knew which person wasn't sleeping. _She's in pain now._ _At least she should know why she should be hurting. _

Before he could change his mind, Ed picked up some small rocks from the ground and threw them at the window. After the second one, someone opened up the window. Edward couldn't help but smile when he saw that it was Winry, and he waved at her. Winry looked very surprised, but that soon turned to anger. She motioned at him to leave, but Edward wouldn't let that stop him from talking to her. He quickly climbed up the wall until his head was level with the window.

"Hey," Edward said. He smiled at Winry, but couldn't help but feel guilty when he saw her face clearly. Winry had tear streaks on her face, and her eyes were red-rimmed and had dark circles underneath that hadn't been there yesterday. And right now, she she was glaring at him in a way that made Ed feel a little scared.

"Ed, go away now."

"Well, I just wanted to talk to you about…" Ed suddenly stopped as he realized he had no idea what exactly he would say.

"I already told you I didn't want to hear anything you have to say." Winry answered, still glaring at him.

"Look, I'm sorry Winry I just-" Ed tried to tell her, but was quickly interrupted.

"Edward, shut up and go away now or my wrench will hit your head so hard you won't wake up for a week."

"Winry, I'm trying to tell you something important, so will you please just stop threatening me for two seconds?" Edward felt angry. He needed to tell her this, it was really important, and it would help her, but she was just threatening him instead of listening.

"I don't want to listen to anything you have to say right now."

"Well, we need to talk about what happened yesterday, and we need to talk about it now."

At his word's, Winry's face lost all of its anger and was replaced by fear that made Edward's anger leave him too and instead made him feel terrible again. "Edward please, don't say anything else. Please just go away now." She pleaded.

"It's important, and you need to hear it."

Winry turned away, but she didn't protest, so Ed started to speak. It was time to tell her the truth.

"I… I can't love you." Ed looked down. He felt so ashamed. It was his entire fault, and he hurt Winry because of it, and ruined his future with her, just because of a mistake. "Al. It's my fault that he's stuck in a hollow metal shell, and I need to find a way to get his body back. I promised him Winry. And so I can't love you. I can't make a commitment to you because I need to fix my mistakes first and I can't do that and be with you at the same time."

Winry didn't say anything, but instead reached out and helped Ed come in. They stood there for a while before Winry asked, "Why did you come?"

Ed was surprised that she chose to ask about that, but told her the truth. "You needed to know. It's not that I don't love you, it's just that I can't."

"So you love me?"

_Did she not hear what I told her? _Edward wondered _I can't love her, and she's focusing on whether or not I do love her? _"I guess I do", he told her, "and I guess I have for a while, but I can't do anything about it. I'm sorry, but I promised, and it's my fault, and I need to fix what I did. Al's the only family I have, and it's my fault that he doesn't have a body."

There was silence once again, and then Winry said, "Edward, I love you, and I understand that you need to get Al's body back, but you don't have to be with me all the time to love me. If we just try, we can make this work."

_What? Does she actually mean that? _Edward wondered, and asked her, "You would really be okay to love me even though all you would be able to do is wait for me and almost never see me?"

Winry smiled and replied, "As long as I know you love me, I'll wait and just enjoy the few moments I have with you until you do get Al's body back. I love you, so anything I can get is fine."

Edward smiled back at her. _Can it actually be so simple?_ He wondered, but as he looked at Winry, he knew that it could, if they were both willing to allow it to be so. Ed nodded at Winry, who beamed. They sat down on Winry's bed and stared into each other's eyes, enjoying the time they had together, sharing their love.

A knock on Winry's door broke the spell and made them both jump. Gracia's called through the door, "Winry, it's time to get up if you want to catch the six ten train."

Winry got up and called back, "Okay, I'm getting ready." Gracia walked off and Winry whispered to Edward, "Should I leave, or are you staying in Central for a while?"

"Actually, Al and I are leaving in a few hours." Ed replied.

"Can I come with you?" Winry asked, looking at him with puppy eyes. This, though, was the one thing she couldn't get out of Edward, no matter what.

"No."

Winry sighed and asked, "Why not?"

"I don't want you to get hurt. What would I do then?" _What if she died? Then what?_ Edward wondered. Trying to get rid of these terrifying thoughts, he teased, "Who would fix my automail?"

"Very funny." Winry smiled, so Ed knew he was off the hook. "Fine, I'll go back to Risembool. Come visit me soon."

"I can't make any promises, but I'll try." Ed got up and walked toward the window, getting ready to leave. Suddenly he thought, _what if this is the last time I'll ever see Winry again?_ With that in mind, he turned around, walked back over to her, and kissed her.

It felt incredible and amazing, and full of love, love he never thought could have existed. Edward never wanted to break the kiss, but he had a promise to fill, so he stepped back and said, "In case I don't come back."

Ed turned around, sure that he needed to leave now or he wouldn't be strong enough to leave her, but Winry grabbed onto him and said, "I love you. Come back safe, and don't forget me."

Edward smiled at her silliness. "How could I forget you? I'm sorry I have to go but…"

"I understand." Winry said, and when Edward looked at her, he was sure that, somehow, she did.

"Bye. I'll be visiting you with a destroyed arm before you know it!" Ed smiled at Winry and climbed out of the window, down the wall, and then rushed off to join the early morning traffic on the street. _She loves me,_ he thought as he walked off, a smile on his lips. _She really loves me, and she'll wait for me. _His smile turned into a grin. He would have to visit Risembool soon.

**Ahhhhh!! Edward was fun to write!! Sorry this chapter turned out so long. (Over 5,000 words wow!!) Anyways, what did you think? Please review & tell me what you think of this chapter!! Also, don't forget to tell me if you want the post-Conqueror of Shamballa sequel!! Reviews make my day & really help me tons so please review!! Thanks for reading & I'll try to post the epilogue soon!!**


	7. Epilogue

**Hey everyone! Okay, so first off, thanks to AnimeCookie93, Fun-Sized Kirk, pi-or-pie, Kristie94, Numi Karim, Wistful Daydreams, and tsubasafan101 for reviewing!! Your comments rock and help so thanks sooooo much!! Thanks also to everyone who alerted or favorited this and who actually read it this far! I super appreciate it, so thanks. Here is the epilogue!!**

**Disclaimer: (This is for this chapter & the last one cause I forgot to put it in) I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist**

Winry was woken up by the sun streaming through her windows. She groaned and turned over, but there was too much light to fall back asleep, so instead she reluctantly got up. She changed and went downstairs to have some breakfast. She had some work today, but not a lot, so she could just take it easy and relax a bit.

"Morning Winry," said her grandmother as she came down the stairs. Pinako had, just as Winry predicted, been mad at her for leaving, but in the three months since Winry had come back, Pinako had forgiven her, and life was mostly back to normal in the Rockbell household.

"Morning," Winry replied. As she sat down to eat, the doorbell rang.

"Winry, can you get that please?" Pinako asked.

"Sure." Winry walked down the hall and opened the front door. And gasped when she saw who was there.

"Hey!" Edward beamed at her, and Winry grinned back. It was so wonderful to see him again, to be near him.

"Hello Winry."

Winry turned to Al, who she hadn't even noticed, and couldn't help but feel bad at the sadness she felt that he was still in the suit of armor, in the metal that forced Ed to be away from her. If he was still like that, then this would just be a short visit, and Ed would soon leave her once again.

"Oh, look who showed up." Winry's grandmother came up behind her. "So what have you done to your automail this time Ed?"

"Nothing!" said Ed. "We were just passing nearby and decided to visit you guys for a day."

Pinako looked confused at Ed's answer, but it made Winry smiled even wider. Before, he would have never come to visit them if he didn't need his automail to be fixed, so him coming now meant that he missed her too.

"Huh. Well, come in then." Pinako walked into the house, and Al followed.

Pinako and Al walked into the house. Winry mouthed at Ed "did you tell Al?" to which he shook his head, and then he mouthed to her "did you tell auntie?" and Winry shook her head as well. They then quickly went into the house, trying not to act suspiciously.

* * *

"Hey we're back!" Ed called to Winry as he and his brother returned from visiting their mother.

"Hey!" Winry called out from the kitchen. "Lunch will be ready in a second."

"Great! I'm starving. What's for lunch?"

"Stew." Winry replied.

"Yes!" Winry smiled at Ed's reaction. _It's funny how something like that can make him feel so happy_, she thought.

Winry walked into the dining room and put the stew down. Ed was already sitting at the table and he stared at the stew greedily.

"Grandma, time for lunch!" Winry called before sitting down and serving Ed, Pinako, and herself some stew.

Pinako walked in and they all began to eat as Al looked on. For a few minutes, there was silence before Pinako said "Hey shrimp-"

"DON'T CALL ME A SHRIMP WHEN YOUR HEAD CAN'T REACH THE TABLE!" Ed shouted. Winry sighed at his less then mature reaction, and Pinako chuckled.

"While you are here," she continued, "why don't we do maintenance on your automail? It won't take long, Winry can do it in one afternoon."

_Perfect,_ thought Winry, _a chance to talk to Ed._ Ed must have thought along the same lines, because he quickly agreed.

After lunch, Winry started to clear up, but before she could pick up the dishes, Al picked them up and said, "You already have extra work because of us. Let me help with this."

Winry smiled at Al's kindness. "Thanks. I appreciate it Al!"

Winry led Ed into a room she used as her automail workshop. She opened up the panel in his arm and got to work checking the wires.

"Did you miss me?" Ed asked after a few minutes, with a smile on his face that showed Winry that he only expected one answer.

"Of course I did. Did you miss me?" She replied, though she too knew the answer to this question.

"Why do you think I came to visit?"

"Why didn't you call me?" Winry asked Ed. She had been worried that no phone calls was a bad sign, and she had often stayed up late wondering if he had forgotten her or been hurt or died.

"Well, I wasn't near many phones, and if I would have called you, it would have attracted attention." Ed paused and Winry knew that what he meant was that Al would have noticed he was calling her.

"Why do we need to hide our relationship? Al wouldn't mind."

"If I tell Al, he'll feel guilty that he's keeping me away from you. He's already hurting enough thanks to me. I don't want to add any more burdens onto him."

_Even if you have to carry more burdens then you should. Even if you have to ruin your life to keep Al less burdened. _Winry thought, but she didn't dare say it out loud. She knew Edward was just trying to protect his brother and fulfill his promise, and saying that Al was burdening him wouldn't help. Winry knew that it was cruel that she felt that way, she loved Ed and Al was separating them, even if he didn't know it.

Winry bit her lip to stop the tears in her eyes from overflowing. _I only have a few hours with Edward_, she thought, _so don't waste them crying._

Instead, Winry adopted a cheery tone and asked, "So, what did you do?"

Ed didn't look too surprised with the sudden mood and topic change. "Oh, just a few missions here and there for the military."

"Did you get hurt?" Another of Winry's worries came up.

"Nope." Ed anwered too quickly though, and Winry knew he was lying.

"Edward…" Winry held her wrench up to his face, and Ed blanched.

"Um, well, you know, a little, but nothing serious, and I am in the military so it's expected and totally okay-"

"No Ed, it's not okay. How can you expose yourself to danger like this? If something happened to you I don't know what I would do."

"Look, it's part of my job. I can't be in the military and work in the field and avoid danger, and getting Al's body back isn't exactly the safest thing to do."

"Yes but, you need to be more careful. I worry about you."

"Well, you shouldn't. I'm strong, I can deal with it."

_There he goes again, trying to act all strong. _"You know what, you're a hypocrite." Ed turned to face her, shocked as Winry continued, "You insist that I stay safe and don't come with you and then you go off and risk your life."

Ed got up and turned to face Winry, now looking much more angry then shocked. "It's not like I have a choice! I have to do it, but you don't so I try to protect you."

Before Winry knew what she was saying, she said, "You always have a choice. And you choose to ruin your life to, to-"

"To fulfill a promise, and to fix my mistakes! Are you going to force me to choose between you and Al?"

"No, Ed. It's not me versus Al, choose one and ditch the other. I understand that you need to get Al's body back, but you overkill. You can't even commit to me, you put yourself in life threatening situations, and for what?"

"I already gave you my love, isn't that enough of a commitment? And it's not like I ask for danger, but I have to face it to fulfill my promise." Ed shouted at Winry. "You said you understood!"

"I understand about Al, but I don't want you to put yourself in so much of a risk."

"It's something I have to do! And I can deal with it. I'm a state alchemist."

"Ed, I just don't want this to be the last time I ever see you. Every time the phone rings, I'm scared to answer it because it might be someone telling me that you are hurt or dead. Every time the doorbell rings, I'm worried that it's Al, alone, telling me that you're gone." Winry started to cry. "The only reason I answer the phone or door is in case it's you, coming to be with me forever."

Ed walked over and hugged her, and Winry cried on his shoulder. She felt his tears, and realized that he was crying too.

"I worry about that too Winry. I worry that this will be the last time that I'll ever see you again. If I had a choice, I would never leave."

Ed and Winry stood there for a long time, and they cried for their fears, their split love, and the hopelessness of the situtation until the tears ran out. _If only all our problems and fears could leave us so easily,_ Winry thought sadly as she looked into Edward's eyes.

"Winry, how is the maintenance job going?" Pinako called through the door, and Ed and Winry jumped. It had been so long since someone had spoken that the noise seemed odd.

At first, Winry didn't remember what her grandmother was talking about, but all of a sudden she remembered that she was supposed to be doing maintenance work on Ed's automail. "Um, I'm not done yet." She called out.

"Well, you can finish after dinner."

"I'm not very hungry." Ed replied.

"Well, I'm not eating by myself." Pinako anwered, and Winry knew that they would have to eat with her.

"Okay, we'll be right out." She called over. Once she was sure Pinako was out of earshot, she asked Ed, "Do I look like I was crying?"

"You look beautiful." Winry smiled at Ed. She felt kind of empty and sad but at the same time happy to be with him now. They would be apart, but for now they would just have to enjoy being together.

They must have been different, but neither Al nor Pinako said anything, though she caught both of them looking at Ed and her oddly a few times. They ate dinner in silence quickly and cleared up.

"I'm gonna go finish the maintenance."

"Shouldn't it be done by now?" asked Al.

"Um well, Ed takes so bad care of his automail that we'll probably have to spend all night fixing it." Winry, who somehow felt better after eating, smirked at Ed, who tried to glare at her but couldn't help but smile.

"Well then, ok." Al sounded suspicious, and Pinako looked suspicious, but Winry didn't really mind. She only had some time with Ed, and she wanted to spend it all with him.

They quickly walked back into the workshop and they sat down on a bench.

"So, do you want maintenance work?" Winry asked Ed.

"Nah. I'll come back soon enough so I don't really need it now." Winry smiled at Ed's optimism.

"Let's go on a walk instead." He continued.

Winry smiled wider. "Sounds like a good idea."

Ed opened a window. "Come on, climb through."

"Can't we just use the door?" Winry asked.

"If we use the window, we can avoid questions about why exactly you're not performing maintenance on my beat up automail."

Winry sighed a bit but she couldn't stop smiling. Ed climbed through the window first, and Winry climbed through after.

Ed and Winry spent the night wandering around Risenbool's fields and the stream that ran through the town. It was a light night, with a full moon and lots of stars, so they could see pretty clearly, and Ed had grabbed a lantern from the workshop as well. They talked a bit, mostly about their plans for the future, but spent most of the time just enjoying being together. _That's what is so great about us,_ Winry though as she looked at Ed, _we don't need to speak to communicate to each other._

Eventually the both got tired and they lay down at the base of a tree. Winry slept for a while until Ed woke her up.

"Morning." He said. "The sun's coming up, so we should probably go back to your house now."

Winry got up and Ed and her returned to her house and climbed back through the window into the workshop. By the time Al knocked on the door, Winry was done with a fast maintenance job that she had decided to do after all, despite Ed's protests. _It's the only way I can help keep Ed safe,_ she thought, _so I might as well do it._

"Brother, it's time to go if we want to catch our train."

"Okay, I'll be out in just a second." Ed called back. He sighed, and Winry felt sad knowing that they were to part once more.

"I have to go, but before I do, I got you this." Ed took a bag out of his pocket and put it in Winry's hands. "Open it when I've left." he told her.

"Be careful."

"Of course I will. I love you."

"I love you too," said Winry, and then Ed opened up the door.

"Come on Al, let's go." Ed told his brother and walked off. Winry rushed to the porch to watch them leave, and Pinako joined her.

"Bye!" The brothers called over their shoulders and set off down the road.

Winry watched as they left, and her fear overtook her once again. _Will this be the last time I'll ever see him again?_ She wondered, and it took a lot of restraint for her to not run after them.

"They'll be back, you'll see." Pinako told Winry. Winry nodded in response, not because she was sure but because she didn't want her grandmother to worry too much.

Once she could no longer see Ed, Winry turned to Pinako and said, "I'm gonna go sleep for a while."

Pinako nodded and Winry went inside and climbed the stairs to her room. She got ready for bed, and once she was, she took out the package Ed got her and opened it.

Inside was a bracelet with blue beads and gold charms. A note was attached to it, and it read: _I'm thinking of you._

Winry smiled a bit at his letter, but was trying to fight the tears of fear that were threatening to overcome her. Once she put the bracelet on, though, she felt better, almost as if she knew somehow that he would be safe and that he would come back. Winry smiled wider this time and lay there, staring at the bracelet until she fell asleep and she dreamed of him.

**Ahhhhh true love! EdWin is awesome! Anyways, that means Noticing is done… I never thought I would finish a fic so wow! Thanks, your reviews/alerts/favorites made it happen!! Please tell me what you thought of this final chapter- it will help me sooooooo much!! If you like it or if you don't, please review & just tell me what I can do better. Oh, by the way, I just want to say I don't hate Al at all… the story just played out that Al was the obstacle in their love, so please don't flame me for Al hating. So anyways, the Conqueror of Shamballa sequel is on (due to popular demand!), and I will start writing it soon. Thanks so much for reading and following the story the whole way!!**

**-lalalatala**


End file.
